What is your attitude to death?

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ImmaBV said:
How peaceful it is to trust God completely no matter what. His will, not ours, be done. Thanks tonyrey, I agree completely. I do not want to give the devil the joy of holding me in his vile bondage of fear, even that of death.

I am amazed that saints such as Little Therese longed for death so much, we must learn from them, even if we can only do that little by little. But speaking about saints such as little Therese, she was a nun, completely detached from the world. I should think that we who are in the world (family people) have more worries to deal with. Of course we must learn to take our worries and troubles to God in prayer and receive His peace. I certainly need to receive His peace again and again and I long for it, to completely conquer every care for the love of God.
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You can’t go wrong if you follow her example, Imma - and you are right about having a different vocation! 🙂
 
vera_dicere said:
Grew up on a farm. Never bothered by it.

Work as a nurse. Seen terrible ways to experience death.

But as for myself, I’m not bothered by it, I’d rather not do it any time soon though.

It is a kind of strange sensation though. A few weeks ago at work I watched someone take their last breath. We saw they were going down quickly, and we rushed to get them into a side room - this was at 3 in the morning, and bang on 3am when we were pushign them through the door into the hallway, they took their last. Then it was caring for the body, and taking them down to teh morgue.

I’m not so much bothered by the process, but rather, will the people who are there when I die, care for my body the way I cared for that patient? I know its just a cor Imma, corpse, an empty shell, but some respect must be afforded to it.
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Familarity with death does make it less fearsome. Some deaths are obviously more gruelling than others but it’s often worse for the onlookers. It does make us realise how it is a blessing to be finally at peace - with the truth and beauty of the liturgy:

“Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam”

(Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, give them eternal peace)
 
Sair said:
Life is change.

Death is one more change.

There would be no life without death.

It has been a long time since I discarded my fear of death in and of itself, although I’m well aware there are some nasty ways to go - so of course I want to do my best to avoid those, and help others avoid them as well. But sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise.

Some of those dear to me have died since I have come to accept that there is probably no afterlife. I have had to face up to the fact that I will never see my loved ones again, and that I must cherish their memory and appreciate their lives for what they were. But I take an Epicurean view of death - where I am, death is not; where death is, I am not.

What I think is that when I die, my consciousness will cease, and my body will eventually decay. Sooner or later, the matter of which my body now consists will go to make up other bodies. These bodies will not be me, of course, but that’s not really anything to despair over - this is all part of the cycle of death and renewal, and we are part of that cycle whether we like it - and can accept it - or not.

I do think that considering this life as finite is a great motivation to us to make what we can of it while it lasts. Certainly, fear of death - or at least the process of dying - is perfectly normal and natural and understandable. We naturally dislike pain, and we dislike the idea that we, as we think of ourselves, will at some point cease to exist. I have seen many people claim that life has no meaning if cessation is ultimately all we have to look forward to, but I think this is misguided. To me, ‘meaning’ implies referral to something else, and I would ask what meaning life needs other than just itself. As for purpose, if our purpose is to attain union with God, what purpose remains once we have done that? Do we simply persist in pointless existence once we get to heaven?

What actually matters in all this is that we do exist now, and even if we’re gone and forgotten in the future, that will not - as Greta Christina eloquently writes - change the fact that we did exist, that we did have our lives and our influence upon the world while we lasted. No-one can take that away, ever.
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I admire your positive attitude to life and death! 👍

Those who are in love don’t need to ask what the purpose of life is. They are content that it goes on forever and ever… 🙂
 
Anathama_Sit said:
I pray that it is a happy ending… one that temporarily puts me in Purgatory on the way to heaven.
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I pray that your journey is non-stop - to heaven, of course! 😉

I’m reminded of a saint who said he was prepared to go to hell if he could save another person by doing so… (Unfortunately I can’t remember who it is.)
 
tonyrey said:
I pray that your journey is non-stop - to heaven, of course! 😉

I’m reminded of a saint who said he was prepared to go to hell if he could save another person by doing so… (Unfortunately I can’t remember who it is.)
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I would be willing to wagar there’s no way he could go to hell if he willingly chose to do so just to save another soul. 🙂
 
tonyrey said:
???
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Can hardly wait, though, I know I have a lot of work to do yet…Estatic, waiting with bated breath…ready to go anytime, GOD’s will be done! Soooo happy to be going Home soon…
 
My attitude is simple. I try to live my life according to the way God wants me to, and I live each day as if it could be my last. I try to live it so that I do not have fears about my eternity when I go to sleep.
 
nickybr38 said:
I pray that your journey is non-stop - to heaven, of course! 😉
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I agree with you. Oddly enough I’ve just asked tomarin if he’s a gambler without having seen your post!

I’ve just remembered that in The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene Scobie decided to free everyone (even God) from himself by committing suicide, knowing he would be damned%between% in the eyes of the Church. But I’m still sure there was a saint who was prepared to go to hell if God wanted him to…
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tonyrey said:
I pray that your journey is non-stop - to heaven, of course! 😉

I’m reminded of a saint who said he was prepared to go to hell if he could save another person by doing so… (Unfortunately I can’t remember who it is.)
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Greetings Tonyrey,

Thanks I need all the prayers I can get. 🙂 I shall remember you in my prayers as well.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit
 
LifeIsAbsurd said:
You, reading this message, one day will die! The safe, well-trodden path and the road less travelled lead to the very same grave. I walk the more exciting one.
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Great, the rest of us are humbly walking the path set before us by our heavenly father =) Have fun while it lasts! 👍
 
crazzeto said:
Great, the rest of us are humbly walking the path set before us by our heavenly father =) Have fun while it lasts! 👍
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I don’t know about me humbly walking the path. I have a great deal of pride and sometimes have to go off and do my thing and get burned and then come back. But thankfully Jesus is always there waiting for me to come to my senses.

I pray LifeisAbsurd that you will find the purpose of your life and that you will find great peace that passes all understanding.
 
tonyrey said:
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Well, I know for a certainty there’s an after life, and a judgement, because my own father appeared in my room the night he died. My main concern is getting past the judgement, because I still remember his terrifying scream just before he disappeared. And God hasn’t always been very encouraging.

I suppose, like a lot of other people, I’m not looking forward to the pain that may accompany death eg. sickness, torture, severe injury, but as to death itself, I don’t have any doubt we continue to exist.

The sixty four dollar question is where we’ll continue to exist.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
Well, I know for a certainty there’s an after life, and a judgement, because my own father appeared in my room the night he died. My main concern is getting past the judgement, because I still remember his terrifying scream just before he disappeared. And God hasn’t always been very encouraging.

I suppose, like a lot of other people, I’m not looking forward to the pain that may accompany death eg. sickness, torture, severe injury, but as to death itself, I don’t have any doubt we continue to exist.

The sixty four dollar question is where we’ll continue to exist.
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Bob, your idea that God hasn’t always been very encouraging is hard to reconcile with the fact that Jesus chose to suffer and die for us… :confused:
 
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